BELOW THE RADAR: Central banks investing unsustainably

The report finds that most G20 and Eurosystem central banks lack credible sustainable investment policies for their non-policy portfolios, often relying on opacity or weak ESG criteria to mask continued support for fossil fuel companies. While the Banque de France is highlighted as a leader for its fossil fuel restrictions, the majority of analyzed banks either have no public SRI policy or use 'tricks' such as investing in green bonds without excluding major polluters. The document recommends that central banks adopt strict exclusion policies for coal and new fossil fuel projects to align with a 1.5°C warming trajectory.

• Only a quarter of G20 central banks have a nominal commitment to investing responsibly, and all of these are located in Europe.
• The Banque de France is the only central bank among the G20 and Eurosystem that is considered to be taking the climate issue seriously in its investment policy, though it still requires improvements to fully align with a 1.5°C trajectory.
• Most Eurosystem central banks use five specific methods to appear responsible while continuing to fund polluters: maintaining opacity, investing in green bonds, signing the Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI), using a 'best-in-class' approach, and adhering to toothless international standards.
• Opacity is widespread among Eurosystem central banks; nine out of thirteen with SRI policies are described as highly opaque, and six provide no credible information to justify their claims.
• Only four G20 and Eurosystem central banks—France, Slovenia, Germany, and Switzerland—have any form of fossil fuel restrictions, and most of these are limited or flawed.
• Regarding policy portfolios, the Swiss National Bank, Bank of England, and European Central Bank have taken some steps, but they remain insufficient. The Swiss National Bank's coal focus is too narrow, the Bank of England ignores scope 3 emissions and fossil fuel developers, and the ECB's commitments are deemed too imprecise.

APA

Schreiber, P. (2021). BELOW THE RADAR: Central banks investing unsustainably. Reclaim Finance. https://reclaimfinance.org/site/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/Report-Below-the-radar-Central-banks-investing-unsustainably.pdf

Chicago

Schreiber, Paul. BELOW THE RADAR: Central banks investing unsustainably. Reclaim Finance, 2021. https://reclaimfinance.org/site/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/Report-Below-the-radar-Central-banks-investing-unsustainably.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Schreiber |first1=Paul |title=BELOW THE RADAR: Central banks investing unsustainably |publisher=Reclaim Finance |date=October 2021 |url=https://reclaimfinance.org/site/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/Report-Below-the-radar-Central-banks-investing-unsustainably.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{schreiber2021below, author = {Schreiber, Paul}, title = {{BELOW THE RADAR: Central banks investing unsustainably}}, institution = {Reclaim Finance}, year = {2021}, month = oct, url = {https://reclaimfinance.org/site/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/Report-Below-the-radar-Central-banks-investing-unsustainably.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }